Former Zengeza West Member of Parliament Job Sikhala (CCC) has claimed that ZANU PF abused State institutions to keep him in prison during the 2023 general election to block him from participating in the polls.
In an interview with Alpha Media Holdings chairman Trevor Ncube on the platform In Conversation with Trevor, Sikhala said ZANU PF was afraid he would cause “pandemonium” in the event of a rigged electoral outcome. He said:
I had the opportunity to meet some of the people from my oppressors’ camp in prison and generally, I was so inquisitive to know the reasons why this thing was being done to me.
They did not want me to be available during the 2023 general elections for the purpose that they were afraid that I would cause chaos and pandemonium in the event of a rigged electoral outcome.
This is one thing that they said that (Job) Sikhala must not be allowed to be present during the election period.
They never wanted me to be a strong backup for Nelson Chamisa’s presidential candidature against his opponent during the elections; they said that it (would have strengthened) Chamisa to the extent that this (could have caused) trouble in this country.
They wanted to cultivate animosity and hostility because, during the process of the incarceration, they were spreading counterintelligence rumours to the peers of (Nelson) Chamisa and my other peers who were outside to create (a) wedge and hostility between the two of us.
Sikhala was in pre-trial detention at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison from June 2022 to January 2024 for inciting public violence following the murder of opposition activist Moreblessing Ali.
Soon after he was released from jail, Sikhala announced his resignation from the CCC party and declared his intention to form a new political movement.
